Tauriel Sails for Valinor
by Cassandrala
Summary: Based on a tumblr prompt- Tauriel returns the rune stone to Kili's mother and sails to Valinor- to find that someone is waiting there for her!


Based on a Tumblr prompt:

_After BOTFA Tauriel travels all over Middle Earth to see all the things that Kili told her about (and she refuses to fade because she __will not leave the places where Kili was alive). She sails over the Sea just before the War of the Ring, because she doesn't have the heart to face another battle and more death. When they're reunited in Valinor (I don't know how Kili gets there, ok, he just does) Tauriel tells him her stories and he tells her he knows, because he's been keeping watch over her._

_What if she sails over, tired, heart still not healed because it never will and when they're almost there someone is like: __Hey, is that a dwarf waiving at us on the jetty?__ And she just storms to the railing and reckonizes him and is just so happy again because Kili somehow made it there before her and waited for her for years and she thought she'd never see him again and this would be her last journey, but in fact it's not and they're reunited and just hug each other and it's just so beuatiful and…. no I can't!_

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><p><em>"Make It Without You" Andrew Belle<em>

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><p><span><strong>TAURIEL<strong>

I roam the world in a haze.

I am like a ghost that cannot be woken from my half-sleep with only my memories to haunt me. I am the haunted, though I am also the ghost, because I cannot forget. Elves never forget.

Not one word passed through his lips that I do not remember. Not one. I can recall his laugh, the deep tenor of his voice, and the smiles he gave me so freely. Perhaps _that_ is why it hurts so much—he would always smile so widely at me, as though we were the best of friends and had known each other for years, when truly I had only known him for days. A few days is all it took. Hundreds of years have I lived and a few days would change me forever.

I have walked over hills and dirt, grass and valleys to see the things he spoke of—I remember them all—the Misty Mountains, Rivendell, Dunland, the Greenway, Ered Luin. I do not know what I expected to find, but when I looked up into the sky and saw no fire moon, I wept. Why did I weep? I know the moon as well as I know the stars, I know the charts of the skies, it was not time for that moon to emerge yet… but the heart does not always reason as the mind does and my disappointment, though unfounded, was bitter.

But I have accomplished _one_ thing, if nothing else: I returned the runestone to his mother. She was waiting for me, I think. I approached the gates with the stone held high in my hand and it seemed to be enough to permit me through them. And when I put it into her hand, still stained with the blood that I did not have the heart to wipe away, she looked at me with a knowing eye that seemed to gaze into my soul. We said nothing, but I'm certain she knew my heart, and we wept together for a time.

The world passed by me with its comings and goings and rumors of war began to spread.

Please, no… not again. Not more death. I saw more death in the few days my feet left Mirkwood than in the six hundred years that I was confined to King Thranduil's halls. And even if I returned, I would still see more death: Bard, Sigrid, Bain… even little Tilda has grown old. What lives were not claimed in the great battle have been claimed with time and age.

What then shall I do?

In my travel to Rivendell, Lord Elrond spoke of a ship to Valinor—there are others who feel as I do, others who are weary of the death and destruction of Middle-Earth. If it is true, if my feet bring me to the harbor and a tall mast with a white sail is there, then I will leave this place forever. I cannot bring myself to fade, but I cannot stand to stay…

I find that it is true—there is, indeed, a small vessel bound for the undying lands and I make my way aboard, unseeing of the other passengers. They seem to understand my grief and blessedly leave me be, standing at the high point of the ship and looking out at the sky before us.

The boat moves, slowly at first, and then picks up a speed that throws my long hair beside me, making me even more of a ghostly figure with the wispy locks and fabric flowing about me.

We seem to be sailing forever, though there are no marks to pass the time.

"There." Someone says and out of the corner of my eye, I can see a finger pointing before us.

Land. Beautiful land. It is lit with the light of forever, just as I had told the dwarf in the dungeons of Mirkwood so long ago. Can I say his name now without causing myself pain? I will try.

_Kili._

There is no pain, only the peace of eternity. We are not far from land.

"Kili."

Saying it does not bring the onslaught of memories as it did before. Perhaps the pain was because he died and found peace, while I remained in the land of the living and felt guilt that he should not be there with me.

"Kili?" I am certain my eyes are playing tricks on me as I look to shore. I squint against the light.

"Does my sight deceive me, or is that a dwarf?" someone says. No, my friend, your eyes do not deceive you—and you have confirmed what my quickening heartbeat sings.

"Kili!" I shout, and my senses are sharpened from the dullness of anguish.

He smiles at me with that same smile, the one that says I am cherished despite time and distance, as though we were never parted—the smile that is for me.

Before the boat fully reaches the land, I have leapt over the railing and splash into the water. It reaches my knees, but when the dwarf runs to join me, it reaches to his waist. For a moment, I think to warn him back, hoping that his leg wound will not suffer because of the wetness—but then I remember that he suffers no more because he is in Valinor. How is he here?

His arms catch my waist and he picks me up and spins me around, laughing and shouting, uncaring for the eyes that watch us in the boat and along the shoreline. The exclamation on his lips is a loud sound, not a discernible word at all, but it says everything all at once. I am still in shock that he is here, but I embrace him tightly all the same. And as my arms move to do so, he takes advantage of my move to stoop lower—his hands touch either side of my face and he pushes himself up to kiss me.

I expect his face to feel harsh against mine, but the stubble on his chin is soft and causes wondrous sensations to the skin around my mouth. His lips are strong and I feel as though I could fall and he would catch me with them.

I cannot help the happy moan that rises from my throat and I feel him tug me closer to him, closing all spaces between us and soothing the hurt that is in my heart. The longer he holds and kisses me is the longer I want to keep on going like this.

But at length, he pulls away and looks at me. Just looks at me. I wonder what he is thinking, but I cannot bring myself to speak. If I do, I may shatter this dream-like image, and I am fearful that he might disperse like a vapor into air.

His eyes are warm and soft as they gaze at me, his lips parted in a lopsided grin—he isn't waiting for me to speak, he is admiring me. It almost breaks my heart to see from his expression that I am a treasure to him—and dwarves do love their treasure, I have learned.

"I returned the stone to your mother." I finally say, letting him lead me past the shallow water and onto dry land.

"I know," He nods without looking up at me.

"You knew I would remember your promise to her?"

He shakes his head and looks up at me, almost sheepishly. "No. I saw it."

As he takes my hand, I cannot hold back the question. "You saw—?" But then I understand. We are in Valinor, they must have a way of observing the living world… "Have you been watching me?"

I am met with another lopsided grin as he nods, as though this is something naughty he has done and he is hoping I will not be angry with him. But I am not angry. I am ashamed.

My head ducks low and I fear to meet his eyes. Will he hold it against me that I did not do more with the remainder of my life? That I did not join in the war, that I did not make myself available for some cause that would save more lives?

But he seems to hear my thoughts as I think them and he reaches up a hand to touch my cheek. "You did more than you know. You gave my mother peace and you encouraged an elf-prince to take part in the fellowship of the Ring." His thumb brushes the corner of my lips and he gives me an encouraging smile. "That first part means more to me than the second, but I had to add it all the same—it did sort of change history." He waves with his other hand as though it is a negligible thing to change history, to which I cannot help but laugh.

"There it is." Kili smiles at me, a wide grin that takes up his face and wrinkles the skin at the corner of his eyes. "That is the first laugh I've had from you, despite my many attempts."

"And well-earned," I smile back, errantly stroking the beard at his chin. "After all, I've nothing else to offer you for waiting here. And you've forsaken the halls of your kin to do it."

He closes his eyes and hums, as though my fingers along his facial hair is a pleasant thing, but then he catches my hand and presses it against his cheek and looks up at me with determination. "I have not forsaken them—I am here for a short time." My heart drops at his words, wondering if we are wasting what precious little time he may have left. He looks down at his feet for a moment, as if summoning courage to say what he says next. "I've come to offer you a place with my kin."

I know my eyes are wide and that my mouth has dropped open, but he leans closer toward me, looking up at me with pleading eyes. "I cannot ask you to join me if it means leaving others you might value more—your parents are here, are they not?"

"Yes," I say slowly, turning my head as if I might see them standing nearby. That instinct to look at the forest nearby has somehow served me well because I see my mother and father smiling at me. "Ada?"

Kili releases his hold on me and I turn to see them walking in our direction. I expect to see disdain in their eyes, but they are only looking at me in pride. My father says nothing, but my mother takes me in her arms and tells me she loves me and that I have done well. I am shocked into silence and the tears flow freely, I pull away from her with a question on my eyes, one that I am certain she understands because she looks to my dwarven companion and bows her head to him with a smile.

How can this be?

"Go," My mother says, as though it is a simple thing. Perhaps it _is_ that simple…

He has waited for me, this dwarf, and I have waited for him—did I expect that he would leave behind the brother he loves so very much? If this is our second life and it is never-ending then I know that my first act in it will not be to take him from the family he loved before he loved me.

"I will go with you." I say, and I find that I am not afraid of this new adventure. "But is it really permitted? Am I truly allowed to—"

"I am here, that is proof enough," Kili smiles at me, taking up my hand once again. "Mahal has granted stranger things to the line of Durin."

I wonder at what he is talking about, but my mind has become blank at the wink he sends my way. That such a thing should have me blushing instead of shaking my head at him…

"Go," my mother says again and my father nods in agreement.

I am walking along the shoreline, hand-in-hand with my beloved Kili and thanking the powers that watch over us that he is here and that he is taking me with him. I had traveled Middle-Earth, I am no stranger to wanderings, and now I embark on a new adventure with the one I love. My Kili.

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><p>.<p>

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**Want some ****Kili/Tauriel romance/adventure? Try STARS AND HAMMERS**

**Fluff, Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort - This is a compilation of one-shots following Kili and Tauriel's one-year adventure as they accompany Bilbo back to The Shire (after the Battle of Five Armies) and then return to Erebor.**

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**Want a **Kili and OC **humorous parody? **Try HOW TO WRECK A MARY SUE****

**Kili and Danika are tired of being pushed around in fan fiction stories and make a pact to defy writer's prompts, but do they have any idea what will happen if they don't play by the rules? Guest appearances from Luna Lovegood, The Doctor, Sherlock, and others!**

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**Want some Fili/OC romance/adventure? Try GOLD AND FIRE**

**Fili and Princess Nur of the Iron Hills marry in secret just before he leaves for Erebor, but what is a lonely wife to do while her husband is braving life and death for their future? Covers the Battle of Five Armies and afterward. ****Explanations for some of the actions within the movies as well as some behind the scenes! A sequel to GEMS AND POISON- the first big adventure of Fili and Kili!**

**.**

**Want some Thorin/OC romance/angst? **Try JEWELS AND DAGGERS****

**Just as Thorin becomes engaged to be married, the dragon attacks Erebor and all is thrown into chaos! Thieving men take captive some of the wandering dwarves- will Thorin, Frerin, and Dwalin be able to rescue the enslaved dwarves, including Runa, Thorin's beloved?**


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